When it's okay to hit: How Turkish and US preschoolers and adults make judgments about permissible and impermissible acts of force

To navigate their complex social worlds, children need to make judgments about when, if ever, it is okay to use force against others. By adulthood, most come to condemn violence in most situations yet accept or even encourage force in other situations, such as self-defense or contact sports. This research examined key factors expected to guide how preschoolers and adults make judgments about permissible and impermissible force. These factors included the antecedent events-preceding the force act-and the emotion attributed to the victim. In four studies with Turkish and U.S. preschoolers and adults, an interviewer presented participants with vignettes in which one child used force against another. The antecedent event significantly affected children's and, to an even greater extent, adults' judgments about force. Participants were also more likely to judge force as permissible when they attributed positive or neutral emotions to the victim. Some cultural differences also emerged. The findings shed light on how children begin to draw moral distinctions between permissible and impermissible force.